Julie Chen & Allison Grodner on Emmy hopes for ‘Big Brother’: ‘This is a show unlike any other’ [WATCH]

“This is a show unlike any other,” says longtime “Big Brother” producer Allison Grodner in our recent video interview (watch above). When asked what it would mean for CBS’s reality TV series to earn some Emmy love this year, Grodner responds, “We all work really hard on this show and love this show. It would mean a lot because it would mean that our colleagues really appreciate what we put into this.” Host Julie Chen also talks Emmys with Gold Derby (watch below), admitting that it would be “a shock of a lifetime” if she earned a nomination for Best Reality Host for the first time. “I’ve never been nominated for that [and] of course it would be an honor.”

Chen reflects on the one year she thought she might have a shot at an Emmy nomination, noting, “It was [Season 15] when we had Aaryn Gries, the girl from Texas, who made those racist remarks about the Asian community. At the time my blood was boiling and I wanted to interrogate her and kind of go after her. I ran all my questions past three of the most trusted people in my life: my husband, my sister and my best friend from college from journalism school. They’re like, ‘Then you’re gonna be the mean girl. You need to take your emotion out of it and just be fair.'”

After Aaryn was eliminated, Chen was cool, calm and collected when asking her live on-air questions. “I thought I did such a great job with that interview! And I didn’t get nominated,” she recalls. “I’d rather see the show get nominated, to be honest. But we never do. My line has just been, ‘We was robbed.'”

“This is a show where we are turning around hours of primetime television in one or two days,” Grodner reminds us. “We are very proud of what we do on this show in terms of the story-telling, the creative effort that goes into it, and all of the departments, post being key. To take all of that footage and make compelling hours of television at record time — I know that the audience doesn’t appreciate ‘Big Brother’ for that, but I would hope that the Emmy voters would.”

Grodner continues, “The art department pulls out all of these competitions also in record time and transforms that backyard, and the creativity that goes into these competitions are unlike any other show on air right now. So there’s so many people that work really hard to make this show the best that it could possible be. It would be amazing to be recognized for that.” Chen and Grodner both return for “Big Brother” Season 20, which premieres June 28 on CBS.

Be sure to make your Emmy predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before nominees are announced on July 12. And join in the fun debate over the 2018 Emmys taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our television forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.